Blog #6: Weaving for Tourism

WEAVING FOR TOURISM

 

            The weaving demonstration during our visit to Teotitlan is something that can’t be fully appreciated until it is seen in person.  Considering the entire process, from sheering the sheep to finally placing the rug on your living room floor, creating tapetes (rugs) is a much more time consuming process then I could have imagined.  After getting a taste of how much time is truly spent on these rugs, I have a better understanding to why Lynn Stephen spoke of the decline in the agricultural industry in Zapotec Women.  The reading made it clear that weaving brings the most profitable return to labor.  As the Mexican economy is becoming more dependent on tourism, farming is suffering as an outcome.  Driving from the Becari school to Teotitlan, the lack of land used for farming and the prevalence of businesses and markets shows this.  It was clear to see how locals find it easier and cheaper to purchase their food from a market, which makes time more available for the profitable task of weaving.

            Seeing the whole weaving process also gave me a greater appreciation for the heritage and uniqueness of the practice.  Visiting a locally owned and operated weaving business, we saw the master weaver and his 93 year-old grandmother still active in the business.  As he explained the weaving process, she sat behind him and brushed wool for a tapete yet to be created.  Lynn Stephen notes that the older generations experience in the business contributes to the value of their product.  Not only does her continued involvement show the family’s ability to produce top quality rugs, it shows her dedication to her family and her heritage which, as an American, I greatly admire.  In America people take early retirement; in her culture people work until they physically can’t.  They work because they are not only proud of their product, but also struggle to compete with the cheaper industrialized rugs.  This is an example of how people from Oaxaca strive to keep their heritage alive, while at the same time adapt to modern trends. 

As Stephen discussed, Mexican society adapts by taking advantage of the tourist industry.  The master weaver spoke of one New York tourist who requested a tapete which took him 6 months to complete.  As an outcome, the weaver created more business for himself because his work for the New York customer was shown off in a magazine.  This is an example of how weaving has transformed into a tourist attraction.  The Mexican economy has found a niche in the market because “Zapotec weavings were transformed from objects for use to art objects and folk art.”  This situation seems very similar to the struggles of the family farms in New England and their competition from the “factory farms” in California and Wisconsin.  Family farms take pride in carrying on the family work, yet struggle to compete with the lower prices offered by the large farms.  Recently, a group of CT farmers decided to market their own milk to promote local quality.  Due to the increase in environmental awareness, there is a new niche in the food market for supporting local production; similarly, due to the increase in tourism, there is a niche in the art market for traditional weaving.

-Chelsea Williams-